Good afternoon. The alleged killer of Samantha Murphy has been identified as 22-year-old Patrick Stephenson, after a legal order preventing him from being named was lifted.
The son of ex-AFL footballer, Orren Stephenson, has been charged with the murder of Murphy, who went missing on 4 February after going for a run. Police are still searching for her body.
And in northern New South Wales, a 39-year-old man has been arrested after the body of his 60-year-old mother was discovered in the boot of a car. Deaths of women in suspected acts of domestic violence have cast a shadow over the months leading up to International Women’s Day, with 64 women killed in violent incidents in 2023, according to a research group.
Top news
Another mass coral bleaching event hits Great Barrier Reef | It’s the fifth coral bleaching event in eight years driven by global heating. Researchers and scientists told the Guardian they were devastated by the bleaching, particularly in the reef’s southern section where corals hundreds of years old were severely bleached.
Queensland climate protests compared to US Capitol riots | Greens MP Michael Berkman has condemned the comparison made by a state parliamentary ethics committee as “outrageous and, frankly, disgusting”. Fourteen people face the possibility of jail, if convicted, over a November 2022 protest in which demonstrators interrupted question time with chants of “end fossil fuels now” and “stop coal, stop gas” for about three minutes.
Rupert Murdoch to marry again | The media mogul, 92, is engaged for a sixth time, this time to 67-year-old Elena Zhukova, a retired scientist. Invitations for Murdoch’s wedding, which will be held at Moraga, his California vineyard and estate, have reportedly already been sent out.
Cranbrook school principal resigns | Nicholas Sampson, the headteacher of the prestigious Sydney school, has resigned after it emerged he allegedly knew one of his teachers had engaged in “extremely concerning past conduct” and kept him in his position. Guardian Australia understands the “past conduct” related to graphic emails sent by the teacher to a former student when the student, from a previous school, was an adult.
Biden announces Gaza pier | Speaking at the annual State of the Union address, Joe Biden said the US military would build a pier off Gaza’s coast to facilitate aid deliveries, and said no American soldiers would set foot in the enclave besieged by Israel. As Biden discussed the war in Gaza, two progressive House Democrats – Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush – remained sitting and held up signs that read: “Lasting ceasefire now.”
Trump loses UK lawsuit | Donald Trump has been ordered to pay £300,000 (A$581,000) to Orbis Business Intelligence – a company founded by former British spy Christopher Steele – after failing to sue the company. Trump’s legal team alleged intelligence the company compiled on Trump in 2016, known as the Steele dossier, harmed his reputation.
Potential TikTok ban advances in US House | US lawmakers were inundated with calls objecting to a bill that would force the platform’s parent company to divest from the app or face a US ban. The bill, which is backed by more than a dozen representatives, passed unanimously out of the House energy and commerce committee, and heads next for a full House vote.
Nigerian school abduction | Gunmen have attacked a school in Nigeria’s north-west region, seizing at least 287 students in the second mass abduction in the West African nation in less than a week. Abductions of students from schools in northern Nigeria are common, with armed groups often demanding huge ransoms.
In pictures
The heavy hand of God: Europe’s brutalist churches
Vienna-based photographer Jamie McGregor Smith has spent years travelling the continent in search of sacred spaces that allowed architects’ imaginations to run wild. Click here to view the gallery.
What they said …
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“When we talk about the sea route, it’s going to take weeks to set up and we are talking about a population that is starving now. We have already seen children dying of hunger.” – Ziad Issa, the head of humanitarian policy at the ActionAid charity.
Issa was referring to US plans to build a port off Gaza to deliver aid to Palestinians. The Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, questions whether it is too little, too late.
In numbers
This is based on Homelessness Australia’s state of response report, which analyses Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data.
Before bed read
Affordable apples, brilliant berries and delicious dragonfruit – here are the best value fruit and vegetables in March.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: HAWK. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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